Monday, March 05, 2007

Skating Away On The Thin Ice of a New Day

Mendota Bridge Bike Path
Ye gods, what a dicey commute today. As you can see, the Mendota Bridge was downright treacherous. All that lovely glare on the road surface was reflecting off of ice so smooth and shiny it would make a Zamboni driver weep with joy.
Mendota Bridge Bike Path
If you look real close at the second photo, you can see the tracks from my bike tires. In retrospect, I'm not sure how I managed to stay upright. But the path was like that the whole way across. As I rode the deep part of my brain that's dedicated to self-preservation kept screaming "NO MON!!! NO!! IT BE DE ICE MON, DE ICE!!!!!" But, I guess even worn down Innova studs do a decent job of keeping one upright. When I stopped to take these pictures I nearly fell victim to one of the classic blunders. I realized I don't have studs on my feet and nearly slipped and fell while walking the bike to the side of the path. It was crazy.

The rest of the ride wasn't much better. Bike lanes filled with parked cars. Where there weren't parked cars, there were huge piles of snow. Just beastly.


Date: March 5
Mileage: 18
Ride type/Bike: Commute/Raleigh
March mileage: 18
Year to date mileage: 619

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You look like an interesting person,
Your blog is unique.

Tim said...

Nokians, baby. Buy some Nokians. Next thing you know, you'll be searching out ice like that just so you can ride on it!

rigtenzin said...

This bridge is gonnna get you someday, Mr. Pete.

Frostbike said...

It did. I went down down down on the bridge this morning...

Apertome said...

Incredible! That does not look ridable. I wouldn't even have attempted it.

I finally took the plunge and rode my bike to work today. I need to streamline the process, but it was a great way to start my day. I always enjoy your blog, and it in part inspired me to start commuting to work. I feel silly even calling it a commute, as it's under three miles ...

I blogged about my trip in this morning if you want to see if you can offer some insight. Anyway, thanks again. I hope you'll be riding in less dicey conditions soon! Things have just started to warm up here.